A delightful day of vintage vehicles & classic boats celebrating 100 years of the Royal Lymington YC
by Tanya Baddeley 14 May 2022 09:25 UTC
7 May 2022
Classic dinghies on display at RLymYC's Vintage and Classic Exhibition © Paul French
On Saturday 7th May the Royal Lymington Yacht Club (RLymYC) welcomed over 800 people to a Centenary Vintage and Classics Exhibition.
This open event showcasing privately owned vintage boats and classic cars and motorcycles was free for the all in the community to attend and celebrated the Club's centenary whilst demonstrating how boating and transport have evolved over the past one hundred years.
Stephen Crates, Vice Commodore of RLymYC said, "Our fascinating display of vintage cars and motorbikes alongside beautiful classic yachts and dinghies, many with interesting histories, attracted a huge amount of interest. Many thanks to the members and friends who kindly allowed us to include their classic as an exhibit in our collection and to all who helped to organise the day."
"It was great to open the Club up to the public for such a unique event. The feedback from visitors was fantastic."
An exhibition of boating over 100 years
The unique exhibition included classic vessels on the pontoon and vintage dinghies next to the Club, many of which were designed and built locally in Lymington, such as the 1924 35ft West One Design yacht, Suvretta, that was one of five produced by Berthon to establish a class at the Yacht Club.
Also fully dressed for the occasion and on display was the 1924 31ft Alfred Westmacott cutter Windflower, 1932 21ft Alfred Westmacott X One-Design Zest, 1938 22ft classic Rossiter Heron cruiser Nancy, 1952 25ft classic Folkboat Genifrède, 1964 15ft Sea Urchin runabout Kandie, 1964 Seafarer 21 small cabin launch Chinook and 1972 38ft modern Old Gaffer ketch 2000 Alice III.
On display were two original collapsible Berthon lifeboats, a design pioneered in 1854 by the Reverend E. L. Berthon that would eventually help to normalise ships carrying adequate safety boats.
Visitors could view and place bids on an original wooden Firefly which was owned by a member of the Club whose widow gave it to a young member to restore as part of his Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. The dinghy was finally sold for £1,535 with all proceeds given to the charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
The Club was founded by Scow racers and visitors had the opportunity to see a fantastic line up of prams including the famous 11-foot pram and a wooden Lymington River Scow. Also included in the display of vintage boats was a wooden Flying Dutchman, a wooden Finn, a 1934 14ft International built by Uffa Fox and a classic 18ft wooden rowing skiff.
An impressive display of vintage cars and motorbikes
A number of vintage cars and motorbikes were displayed in front of Royal Lymington Yacht Club, the oldest of which were the fascinating 1915 GN belt-drive cyclecar and the 1921 GN chain drive "Vitesse".
It was interesting to see how quickly technology advanced from these early cars to the 1932 Ford Indianapolis Sprint Car and then onwards to the 1953 MG, 1969 E-Type Jaguar 4.2 litre and 1973 4/4 Morgan. In total fifteen privately-owned classic cars were displayed and much appreciated by enthusiasts.
The display of seven vintage motorcycles included a 1921 Sunbeam 500cc and a 1932 Norton 500cc which was fascinating to compare with the 1957 Norton 600cc Dominator.
Visitors were able to enjoy "vintage tuck shop" refreshments in the Club's restaurant and out on the sun terrace, from where they could enjoy also a birds eye view of the dinghies and yachts on display.
They were also able to find out about the history of the Club and learn about Wednesday Junior Sailing, the RYA OnBoard Centre for children that has been at the heart of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club for 37 years. Find out more about this brilliant initiative that teaches sailing and seamanship to local young people who would otherwise not have the opportunity at rlymyc.org.uk/wjs
For more information about the Royal Lymington Yacht Club at rlymyc.org.uk. The Club welcomes new members, contact or call 01590 672677.